Methods of detecting early renal disease in animals

1. A method to detect early renal disease comprising:

(a) obtaining a sample from an animal;

(b) applying at least part of the sample to a device capable of detecting albumin in the sample; and

(c) obtaining a urinary albumin concentration from the device,

wherein an amount of albumin in a range from about 10 μg/ml to about 300 μg/ml in the sample, when the specific gravity of the sample is normalized to 1.010 g/ml, is indicative of early renal disease.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is repeated at least once to monitor a disease or the effect of a therapy.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the device measures the amount of albumin in the sample by:

(a) contacting the sample with an albumin-binding compound to form an albumin-compound complex;

(b) detecting the albumin-compound complex; and

(c) assessing the amount of albumin present in the sample from the amount of albumin-compound complex detected.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the albumin-binding compound is an anti-albumin antibody.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein said antibody inhibits the selective binding of a test antibody selected from the group consisting of TNB1, TNB3, TNB4, TNB5, TN6, H352, H386, H387, H388, H389, H390, H391, H393, H394, H395, H396, H397, H398, H399, H400, H401 and H402 to albumin.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the antibody binds the same epitope recognized by a test antibody selected from the group consisting of TNB1, TNB3, TNB4, TNB5, TN6, H352, H386, H387, H388, H389, H390, H391, H393, H394, H395, H396, H397, H398, H399, H400, H401 and H402.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the device detects albumin in the sample using an assay selected from the group consisting of an enzyme-linked immunoassay, a radioimmunoassay, a fluorescence immunoassay, a chemiluminescent assay, a lateral-flow assay, a dipstick assay, an agglutination assay, a particulate-based assay, an immunoprecipitation assay, an immunodot assay, an immunoblot assay, an immunodiffusion assay, a phosphorescence assay, a flow-through assay, a chromatography assay, a PAGe-based assay, an electronic-sensory assay, a surface plasmon resonance assay and a fluorescence correlation spectroscopy assay.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the animal is selected from the group consisting of canids, felids and equids.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sample is pre-treated by adjusting the specific gravity to 1.010 g/ml.

10. A method to identify an animal at risk for developing late-stage renal disease comprising:

(a) obtaining a sample from an animal;

(b) applying at least part of the sample to a device capable of detecting albumin in the sample; and

(c) obtaining a urinary albumin concentration from the device,

wherein an amount of albumin in a range from about 10 μg/ml to about 300 μg/ml in the sample, when the specific gravity of the sample is normalized to 1.010 g/ml, is indicative of early renal disease.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the animal is selected from the group consisting of canids, felids and equids.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the device measures the amount of albumin in the sample by:

(a) contacting the sample with an albumin-binding compound to form an albumin-compound complex;

(b) detecting the albumin-compound complex; and

(c) assessing the amount of albumin present in the sample from the amount of albumin-compound complex detected.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the albumin-binding compound is an anti-albumin antibody.

14. A method to detect early renal disease comprising

(a) obtaining a sample of urine from an animal;

(b) applying at least part of the sample to a device comprising a support structure defining a capillary flow path, the support structure comprising:

(i) a sample pad for receiving the sample;

(ii) a labeling area fluidly connected to the sample pad, the labeling area comprising a labeling reagent that comprises an albumin-binding compound conjugated to a detectable marker;

(iii) a first capture area fluidly connected to the labeling area, the first capture area comprising an immobilized first capture reagent that binds the albumin-binding compound/detectable marker conjugate, wherein the amount of immobilized first capture reagent is sufficient to capture 50% of the conjugate when the concentration of albumin in the sample is less than 10 ug/ml;

(iv) a second capture area fluidly connected to the first capture area, the second capture area comprising an immobilized second capture reagent for capturing albumin-binding compound/detectable marker conjugate not captured by the first capture regent;

(c) comparing the amount of detectable marker in the first and second capture areas;

wherein a greater relative detectable marker intensity in the second capture area as compared to the detectable marker intensity in the first capture area indicates the presence of early renal disease.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the albumin-binding compound is an antibody that selectively binds albumin.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the antibody inhibits the selective binding of an antibody selected from the group consisting of TNB1, TNB3, TNB4, TNB5, TN6, H352, H386, H387, H388, H389, H390, H391, H393, H394, H395, H396, H397, H398, H399, H400, H401 and H402.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the first capture regent comprises a molecule selected from the group consisting of albumin and an antibody that selectively binds albumin.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the second capture reagent comprises a molecule selected from the group consisting of albumin and an antibody that binds the albumin-binding compound.

19. The method of claim 14 , wherein the animal is selected from the group consisting of canids, felids and equids.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the sample is pre-treated by adjusting the specific gravity to 1.010 g/ml.